Former NBCE Officers Attempt to Hijack the Board
CLICK HERE for a copy of the letter
The four former NBCE officers who circulated the letter are:
- Steven Conway DC, Esq. - Past Vice President, Secretary of the NBCE
- Salvatore LaRusso DC - Past President, Treasurer of the NBCE
- John Nab DC - Past Treasurer of the NBCE
- Daniel Cote DC - Past President, Secretary of the NBCE
CLICK HERE for the history of that lawsuit
So inextricably intertwined are the legal relationships between these two supposedly autonomous, non-profit boards that they can no longer function according to reports in the media as well as from letters of resignations and public statements by NBCE Directors who have resigned due to the turmoil and inaction.
The lawsuit reveals the highly secretive and problematic relationships between the FCLB, NBCE and state regulatory boards where a great deal of federally backed student loan money is used to conduct their business. So concerning are such relationships that the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) described a "Cartel" operating within the chiropractic profession with "monopoly" control over the entire educational, licensing and regulatory aspects of the profession.
Shockingly, in both the original legal complaint and the motion to dismiss, both parties freely discuss the questionable relationships between these entities and how its members move back and forth between them.
Especially concerning are the relationships to the state boards and sitting members of these state boards since these are government entities operating with tax dollars and under various state ethics commissions, rules and regulations regarding, among other things, conflicts of interest.
In their letter the four former Officers of the NBCE urge the Delegates to:
"Fulfill your fiduciary responsibilities as Delegates of the NBCE to sign a petition to call a special meeting of the NBCE delegates within the next 15 days."
The former Officers even include a "proposed petition document" to sign and send to the NBCE's Executive Director Norman Ouzts DC.
The deceptive letter gives the impression that these four people have some current relationship with the NBCE such that the Delegates should listen to them and follow their directions.
In fact, they urge the Delegates to "Hire an independent firm" to get to the bottom of the turmoil. This, despite the public reports that multiple outside attorneys and consultants have already been hired and made recommendations. These four former Officers now want another inquiry.
The actions suggested by Conway and his cohorts include:
- Removal of any (all) Director(s) that have violated their fiduciary responsibilities to the NBCE.
- Elect new District Directors that will uphold the ethics and fiduciary responsibilities of the Board
- Discuss and develop new bylaws to protect the integrity of the NBCE
The former NBCE Officers refer to the nonsense going on between the FCLB and NBCE as:
". . . serious allegations involving officers of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Board (FCLB) and the simultaneous and unprecedented resignations of four ethical and upstanding directors of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE)."
Clearly siding with the NBCE Directors who have resigned over the fiasco, the former NBCE Officers that sent the letter appear to have made up their mind in regards to whether the accusations made are even true and their actions signal the attempt at a coup at the NBCE.
Referring to an "ethical tipping point" the former directors and officers believe it "can no longer be ignored."
Since the former NBCE officers have no say in the current management of the NBCE Board they seem to be attempting to get the Delegates to do their dirty work for them saying the resignation letters:
". . . outline very serious and toxic leadership issues within the Board of Directors requiring the NBCE delegates to take the necessary actions to protect the integrity of the NBCE and to re-establish the good reputation of all of us who work so hard in licensure and testing."
CLICK HERE for more on the unnecessary NBCE Exams
Never mind the already questionable legal relationships involving the transfer of student loan money between these organizations, now we have former officers sticking their nose into the controversy in order to keep the status quo.
In overly dramatic language clearly meant to inflame the emotions of the Delegates, the four former officers lament that four people resigning from the NBCE "has never happened in the entire history of the NBCE" and go even further to claim, without supporting evidence, that the resignations "are not the result of a simple disagreement or petty internal politics."
How would they know if they do not currently sit on the NBCE or FCLB Boards? Everything is hearsay.
What they really want is also revealed in the letter to the delegates:
". . . to re-establish the good reputation of all of us who work so hard in licensure and testing."
Whether or not they work hard or not to keep unnecessary testing with its related student loan borrowing and related expenses heaped on the backs of students who are already paying way too much for the value that a chiropractic education provides is debatable.
What is not debatable is that these NBCE Directors are well compensated for their supposed "hard work".
Look no further than the NBCE's publicly available tax returns and its easy to see what's going on.
The supposed "volunteer leaders" of the NBCE pay themselves over half a million dollars a year for ONE HOUR of work per week giving these "volunteers" an average of $42,446.15 per year.
Some, like John Nab DC (one of the signers of the letter to the Delegates), do even better raking in $80,800.00 a year for his one hour of work per week. That's $1553.84 per hour.
And that's not counting the actual salaried employees of the NBCE who were given nearly $1.5 million of student money.
Not to be outdone is the highest paid employee of the NBCE Norman Ouzts DC who was paid $292,054.00 in compensation.
CLICK HERE for more on the flow of money through the NBCE
Referring to the NBCE as a "cornerstone" of the profession the former officers claim:
"It is our opinion that based upon the quorum issue and the allegations outlined in the resignation letters, that the NBCE delegates have a fiduciary responsibility to the NBCE to exercise their governance authority to call for a special meeting of the Delegates authorized under Article III of the NBCE bylaws."
One thing has been made crystal clear by all of this upheaval and that is it's time the Chiropractic Cartel is stripped of its monopoly control of the entire educational, testing and licensing aspects of the chiropractic profession. Despite protestations to the contrary, their service is unnecessary and their motives have been revealed by their childish behavior with this fiasco.
Our students and future colleagues deserve nothing less.
